Armed home invasion suspects arrested in Lincoln Heights

Four armed suspects forced their way into a home in Lincoln Heights Saturday morning, taking one person hostage.

December 28, 2013 12:00:00 AM PST

By Coleen Sullivan

LINCOLN HEIGHTS, LOS ANGELES --

Four armed suspects forced their way into a home in Lincoln Heights Saturday morning, taking one person hostage.

The suspects walked up to the home in the 2600 block of Alta Street around 1:30 a.m. That's when the residents spotted them on their home surveillance system and alerted police. At least one suspect had a shotgun.

Officials say there were three people inside the home at the time of the incident. Two were downstairs in the basement and managed to escape without the suspects knowing. However, one person was not able to flee. That's when police say the incident turned from a home invasion to a hostage situation.

When SWAT and K-9 units began swarming the area, the suspects scattered. One was caught after fleeing through the front door, and another was caught hiding in the backyard. The two other suspects stayed with the hostage, who was held for about 2 1/2 hours.

Police say the two suspects tried to pass themselves off as victims.

"At some point, the victim walked out of the house with the two suspects in trail, pretending that they were victims as well. The police didn't fall for that," said LAPD Lt. Andy Neiman. "They were able to take all those people into custody, figure out who was who, and ultimately arrest those two suspects."

All of the the suspects' weapons were recovered at the scene.

Neiman said the victims were not injured during the invasion, though some property was stolen. Exactly what was taken remains under investigation.

Area neighbors were evacuated from their homes during the investigation. Many said they were stunned something like this would happen on their block.

It remains unknown why the home was targeted. The four suspects now face charges of home invasion robbery and kidnapping.